


Heart Made of Glass,

by xxELF21xx



Series: Lovely [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Character Study, Developing Relationship, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Fluff, Gen, Jason Todd is Robin, Light Angst, Misunderstandings, Protective Bruce Wayne, Sibling Bonding, Touch-Starved, as in familial relationships, but it's done by dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 20:18:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16166249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: Jason doesn't understand why Bruce is angry, so he runs -- right into Nightwing's territory.





	Heart Made of Glass,

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ScribbleBea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleBea/gifts).



> Bea wanted some fluff and I miss writing about Jay so here's some word vomit about my precious little babby.

The lenses of his mask narrows, a thin white slit covering hardened blue eyes as they follow a wisp on the rooftops. His feet make no sound, silently gliding across the landscape, zeroing in on the near-invisible scrapes and the tattered uniform, but the small fox still found a way to remain upright, making little noises one would attribute the wind for, trailing the scent of young blood in the hazy city. 

He startles, watching the lively bird skid to a sudden halt, falling head-first into the asphalt below, and his body moves on autopilot; firing a line haphazardly as he too dives down, praying that his heavier weight meant he was able to catch the small one in time. The grapple sinks into the flesh of a building, creaking in protest as he uses all his might to reach out and grab at a thin arm, jerking the body flush into his own. His heart hammers, disastrous thoughts filling him with fear and worry - replaying the scene from years ago, under bright lights and a huge tent, with gory blood filling the floors and invading his vision.

'What do you think you're doing?!' He doesn't realise he's opened his mouth, harsh words ripping out from the base of his throat. It sounds animalistic, bordering insanity. Robin flinches, bright colours popping out disgustingly against pale skin. Nightwing's lips press into a thin line, eyes catching onto every scratch and bruise, but finding none. He doesn't understand, is Robin sick? Did something happen to him on patrol?

A sick whisper fills his ears:  _is this really Robin?_

Part of him agrees with the doubt, Robin was never this quiet; he was always making a ruckus, spilling jokes and witty comments, riling up everyone around him, boosting morale and promising to work on his nonexistent filter. What happened to Robin? But the other part of him studies the bright child, instinctively pointing out the frigid temperature of his skin, the slight bluish tint at the corners of his lips, the salt-dried hair. 

Huh. 

He decides to crack a joke - 'took a dive in the Harbour?' Robin gives no reply, wide lenses looking straight ahead, a deadweight.  _Right then,_ he recoils,  _wrong move._ They land on the roof of his apartment, Robin marching right out of his grasp and backflipping his way to the window. Nightwing frowns, reaching for his rusty comm, but decides against it. It wasn't every day the kid came knocking on his door. 

Or, well, stumbling into his city.

The moment Nightwing becomes Dick Grayson and Robin becomes Jason Todd, the walls come crashing down. The boy is clearly shivering, wobbly legs knocking into various pieces of furniture, confused and disoriented. 'Hey, hey,' Dick soothes, trying to reach out to him, 'it's alright, Jay.' Jason's eyes are misty, aquamarine flashing a thunderous silver, anger and hurt written all over his face. 

'It's  _not_ okay,' he warbles, and Dick takes a moment to take in the fact that Jason's voice was changing, deepening slightly. He wondered if that would affect his vocal range.  _'Nothing's_ okay!' In a burst of tears, Jason runs into the guest room, slamming the door so hard the thin walls shake. Dumbfounded, he stands in his living room, half of his uniform on the rustic carpet, mind racing with impossible scenarios.

A snake slithers up his chest, cold and heavy,  _Bruce hurt him._ Jason thought Bruce hung the God damned  _stars_ in the sky, if he was upset... clearly, it had to do with Bruce. Then, it slithers closer, wrapping around his shoulders, anger coiling in the pits of his stomach. Bruce  _hurt_ Jason,  _Robin,_ and threw the kid onto  _him_ to clean up the mess. He growls, tightening his hand into a fist, feeling the plastic of his mask bend and snap in his grip. 

_How dare he._

A muffled sob sends the snake aflame, and anger turns into panic.  _Is Jason okay?_ He rushes to the door, knocking on it with trembling hands. 'Can I come in?' A shriek has him scattering away to the wall opposite, blood thrumming in his veins. Anger sloshes at him, urging him to snarl and bite at the small fox, to hunt the hunter; but he grounds himself, griping at his hotbloodedness. 

Jason needs someone to comfort him now, not... some asshole trying to rip holes into him. Worry claws through him as he tries to get Jason to open up to him, but every attempt is met with a block, a fortress tall and thorny driving him to its edges. Eventually, he relents, slinking away to change into pyjamas and wait on the couch, tossing every type of junk food he had onto the coffee table and turning on the television for some white noise.

Three hours later, at four in the morning, Dick hears a door creak open, dry, red eyes looking at him dully. He pats the space beside him, warm and pleasant amidst the Bludhaven cold, burrowing into the blankets even more. Jason's head pops out, tangled black hair sticking to sweat-soaked skin, he was still in the God-awful uniform; looking smaller than ever. A rock sits in his stomach, a sense of protectiveness surging through his veins. Slowly, the little fox moves closer, staying close to the wall and looking at him through curtained eyes. 

Dick does his best to stay open, giving Jason all the time he needed to feel comfortable. Jason stares at him for a while longer, nose scrunching up in determination, before zooming into Dick's stomach. Instantly, he chokes, feeling the air in his windpipe get cut off, making him gurgle pathetically. Scrawny arms latch onto his midsection tightly, his head burrowed deep into Dick's chest. Jason's shoulders shake minutely, but his shirt is wet; now the anger rises into a storm, but it wasn't directed at Jason. 

Rubbing large circles into a small back, Dick coaxes Jason to change into something more comfortable, noting the reserved way in which he changes his clothes. 'Do you want to shower?' A frantic headshake, followed by wide, fearful eyes. 'Alright then, that's cool. Are you hungry? I don't have anything but unhealthy stuff, though... ' Jason does a sweep of his pathetic food inventory, settling on chilli dog flavoured chips, holding it up as a sign of permission. Dick suppresses a snort, grinning widely as Jason looks at it with glee. He notes the careful and deliberate way the bag is opened, the noisy crinkling is nowhere to be heard. Even while he eats, Jason tends to nibble and soften the chips, eating slowly and swallowing small, jagged pieces that he can't seem to soften.

Dick has looked at his file, he knows the...  _circumstances_ of Jason's upbringing. But to actually  _see_ it being played out in front of him... and the nagging truth that bothered him the most was that he's been in Alfred and Bruce's care did absolutely  _no_ change to Jason's mannerisms causes his stomach to flip inside-out, his tongue heavy and sandpaper-y. It's uncomfortable.

Jason's eyes are peeled on the TV, and to the untrained eye, it would seem as though he was completely enraptured by what was going on on-screen. He could bet that if he tested Jay about the movie playing right now, the answers he'd get would be completely correct. However, the slightly tense line of Jason's body and the way he had his hands and feet close to an object, coupled with the minute eye movements was enough for Dick to know that Jason probably didn't feel safe in his apartment at all. 

It stung a little, knowing that who was legally his brother didn't feel at ease with him.

They continued this in silence, with Dick picking out a few habits Bruce could never spot; like how Jason leans at a slight 2 degree angle to the left when he's interested in something, or the perculiar way he'd blink his eyes when he guessed something right, or how he taps his fingers in a three-one-three pattern - and the most interesting one: Jason tends to stray away from any sort of physical touch after six seconds. He found it strange, though it did make sense. Jason probably wasn't used to extended exposure to any sort of skinship or touch. 

Although... Dick's eyes widened slightly,  _there's no way..._

Did Bruce not show any sort of physical affection to Jason?

 

 

Jason shifts, flopping down to rest his head on Dick's lap, lips pulled down into a pout. He looked like a tiny, sulking fox baby. Growling, Jason shoves Dick's hand away when he was about to ruffle his hair. 'Aw, come one, you're adorable right now.' He whines, pride swelling in his chest when Jason grows red in the face, sputtering that he  _wasn't cute._ Lies. After a mini scuffle, Jason finally relents, huffing petulantly as Dick messes with his hair. 

'So, wanna tell me what's up?' Jason is basically a giant cat at this point, relishing in the warmth of the couch and Dick's body heat, eyes heavy and drowsy. He doubts he would get a direct answer, but Dick's counting on Jason's sleepiness to learn some info. Jason snaps, like the little hunter he is, burrowing his head into a throw cushion, 'don't wanna,' he sulks. Dick trills, cooing at the display of childishness Jason usually lacked back at the Manor, 'aww, why not?' Jason pouts even more, drawing the blanket up to his head.

Dick sighs, offering a juice box as an offering, which Jason gladly accepts. 'He yelled at me,' his brother whispers, a slightly haunted look hiding behind teal eyes. Immediately, Dick feels the urge to throttle Bruce come back two-fold. Honestly, Bruce should know better than to do this. 'Why did he shout at you?' He treads carefully, approaching the topic in a slow manner, watching for any sign for him to switch topics. 

'He was, B's armour was too heavy, and Ivy had him tangled up in a new type of plant, it's like a cross between a vine and a type of bonsai, we didn't know how to deal with it. Ivy was about to throw him into the water and there was no way that he'd be able to swim back up,' his voice is steady and low, face passive, a defence mechanism; Dick continues patting Jason's back, encouraging him to go on, 'so I... I threw myself at Ivy, she didn't know I was observing. We both fell into the water, and it gave B enough time to hack his way out of the plant. Ivy doesn't hurt kids, right? I bet on it, and she didn't touch me, she pulled me out the water the moment she saw me struggling. I was alright, but he still... ' 

He guesses there's more to the story, but leaves the issue alone. 'Did you inform B about your move?' Jason shakes his head, 'wanted to surprise her, it was the best shot I had at getting her.' Dick smiles, ruffling the boy's hair, 'you did good, believe it or not; the first rule of being Robin is not listening to B's rules.' Jason gives him a slack-jawed look, bewildered, 'no it isn't!' He insists, pushing Dick away. 

Laughter bubbles up in his chest, 'yeah it is! I was the first, so I get to set the rules!' Jason continues to deny his bogus rules, snapping at him for being the one for ridiculous rules like  _"do your homework before patrol"_ and  _"let Alfred double check all schoolwork",_ which Jason then claimed to be "degrading" because he did all his work perfectly. 'Well, sorry, but you're gonna have to bear with it,' he teases, squashing Jason into a cuddle.

Surprisingly, Jason accepts the embrace, relaxing into it. Dick thinks that at this point, he's won the weird not-really competition over who can get more affection from Jason with Bruce. Dick also would like to adopt Jason because Bruce, clearly, has  _some_ problems with communication. 

'I can't swim,' Jason exclaims after a moment, the words smushed together as he turns his face to hide in a cushion. Dick wants to throw somebody out the window, preferably himself. 

'Jason!' He shrieks in terror, 'no!' All other words fail him as he stares at a guilty Jason. 'Jason, I swear, we're going to sign you up for swimming lessons. I can't believe you can do first-aid, ride a motorcycle,  _and_ drive the Batmobile but B's never used his big brain to  _give you swimming lessons?'_ Jason, admittedly, giggles at the insult to Bruce, 'uh huh.'

'Unbelievable. We're going to have  _words.'_

'Uh huh!'

Dick realises he's getting caught in a loop of Jason's idea of fun, causing him to pull the hood of Jason's borrowed hoodie up, 'do you think this is funny, huh?' 

'Uh huh!'

 _Gosh, adorable, little fox._ He grins, giggling along with Jason.

 

'Dick?' Jason's drowsy voice snaps him into alertness. It was probably five in the morning, and he had to clock into the station at one in the afternoon later, 'yea?' He replies, voice rough with sleep. Jason's sugar high was something that could put any villain's evil master plan to shame. 'Why is Bruce angry?' Dick snorts, shoving candy wrappers onto the floor, 'Bruce is weird, little wing, he's a little hesitant to get close because he's scared he'll lose you, so he got upset and angry at himself. He blames himself more than he blames you.'

'Why do you call me that?' Jason chases some other point, leaving him confused. 'Huh?' He sees Jason's hand flap around, 'that, uh, little wing?' His tired brain takes a moment to catch up, 'oh. Because I'm Nightwing, you're my little brother. So, little wing.' He imagines Jason's nose scrunches up at the statement, 'you're not really creative, are you?' He has half a mind to smack Jason's head, but was too tired to reach out to the other side of the couch, so he just groans. 

When he's about to fall back asleep, Jason pipes up again, 'I don't wanna be Nightwing.' 

'That's fine, you can be whoever you want, little wing.'

'What if B says no?' There's a nibble of fear in the statement, something Dick wants to crush. Slowly, as clearly as he can, he replies cheerily, 'then I'll crush him.'

'Oh,' Jason's awed voice melts his heart,  _man, being a brother is awesome._

He thinks it's five minutes later when Jason speaks again, 'if B is so scared of losing me, does that mean he'll do everything to make me stay?' He ponders over this, digging up painful memories and heated, cruel spats. 'I... I guess, yea... he would.' Dick admits softly, sighing.

'Then why didn't you stay?'

His jaw clicks shut, mind racing with a million nasty thoughts. 'Because he was giving me  _too_ much, Jay, and he gave so much it began to  _suffocate_ me,' he words it carefully, leaving malice out of his words. Jason stays silent for a while, causing him to think he'd finally fallen asleep; then, 'I wouldn't mind that.' That elicits a tiny huff of laughter, 'of course you won't,' he sits up, dragging Jason in for a hug - causing a tiny, tired scuffle, which Jason lost - 'you're so adorable, I'll be surprised if anyone  _doesn't_ like you.' He pinches slightly chubby cheeks to highlight his point, causing a pout.

'The people at school don't,' Jason murmurs, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He shrugs in response, 'yeah? Well, their loss.' 

'Dick?' Jason slurs, eyes drooping shut, 'if I don't wanna be Robin anymore, what do I do?' Dick smiles, patting his back, 'if one day, you decide  _not_ to be Robin anymore, just give me a call, okay?' Jason huffs, irritated, 'no, that's not- what I meant was, ugh, but Robin gives me  _magic!_ I'll die without it!'

Dick decides he's going to gush about his adorable little brother at the station when he clocks in, 'oh my God, you're too cute!'

**Author's Note:**

> oof this is so fluffy im sleepy now. 
> 
> come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://hunkjasontodd.tumblr.com/)


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